Changing outlets
Has anyone changed their regular AC outlets to the ones that also include USB outlets? If so what brand and how do you like them?
Forum Discussion
34 Replies
- I installed a combo USB/recept. last year. I used a Leviton device with a 3.6 amp DC rating. Some have a low rating. Some USB devices have a high draw and it's better to just go ahead and install a higher rated one so you won't have to worry about it.
These devices are deeper and bulkier and require a box with adequate depth and cubic capacity. I used one of the Carlon PVC boxes as posted above, and even then it was a tight squeeze. I mounted the box in the sidewall of the wardrobe closet and the wall wasn't thick enough. I pulled the plywood off the inside wall of the closet and furred it out an inch and re-installed the plywood.
Def. a worthwhile mod. DW has two phones and a Verizon mifi hotspot and I have a phone also so that's 4 USB outlets needed. I also previously installed a USB charging station next to the dinette table. Can't have too many USB outlets these days. The combo outlets are cheap. I could have bought one on the internet but found the best deal at the local HD.
"Standard" back/side wired recepts. aren't superior in themselves and can just as easily fail. The problem with the self-contained devices ("SCD" for short) is that they can be improperly installed at the factories and badly enough to overheat. Below are a couple of examples I found in two previous TTs where the wires were pushed onto only half the stabs. A potential fire hazard. A special tool (around $200) is required to push the wires in and you can see in one photo this wasn't done. SCD devices (and they're NOT called speedboxes) are used by the millions in mobile homes and they're not a problem, and the difference is a major difference in quality control and inspections.
SCD devices and standard receptacles have to meet the extreme requirements of UL 498 and SCD devices have to be able to withstand 40 amps cycling during testing. NFPA 1192 only states that electrical installations must comply with NEC art. 551. The NEC will have a reference to UL 498.
DrewE wrote:
The bigger problem with aluminum wiring I think was corrosion due to dissimilar metals.
The problem was different expansion rates of aluminum and the brass/steel screw terminals and a phenomena called creep. Aluminum wire would warm up under load and expand. Load would be turned off and wire would cool, leaving a looser connection and with repeated cycling over time a point coulbe be reached when the connection was bad enough to really overheat and ....
They changed things so when aluminum wire is used, receptacles and switches, breakers and wire nuts had to be designed for use with aluminum and be marked Cu/Al. Many homes with aluminum wiring had recept's and switches rewired with a copper pigtail and a Cu/Al wire nut. My mom (in her 80s at the time) used to have a house like that and the insurance co. refused to renew her insurance unless she rewired the whole house with copper. The electrical inspector had no issue with the aluminum. We changed insurance companies and had no trouble with them. Some people who should know about this stuff don't.
Aluminum wire is common in heavy gauges for feeders and large equip. Nothing wrong with it as long as correctly installed. It's often used because it's cheaper.Bumpyroad wrote:
Blacklane wrote:
That's because screwed connections can back-off under vibration.
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wasn't that the issue 40?? years back with aluminum wiring in houses. the al wire fastened to the copper screws would have a different expansion and the screw loosened to the point where fires resulted? same situation with vibration??
bumpy
The bigger problem with aluminum wiring I think was corrosion due to dissimilar metals. There are plenty of screw terminals that are permitted by code for use with aluminum wire (with proper termination techniques, often including anti-corrosion compounds and such). Aluminum wire is still sometimes used for higher current residential connections such as electric stove circuits, I think...though I'm not completely sure.
A good tight electrical connection should not get too hot, so there would be little thermal expansion to deal with.Blacklane wrote:
That's because screwed connections can back-off under vibration.
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wasn't that the issue 40?? years back with aluminum wiring in houses. the al wire fastened to the copper screws would have a different expansion and the screw loosened to the point where fires resulted? same situation with vibration??
bumpyBlacklane wrote:
It kind of works the other way: NFPA 1192 Standard on Recreational Vehicles says that only listed electrical fixtures, appliances, equipment and materials that have been labeled by nationally recognized testing agencies are allowed.
You can't find any fixtures with screw connections listed.
That's because screwed connections can back-off under vibration.
As far as the UL/CSA certification, just look on the device. Certainly the Hubbell-Wirecon self-contained devices are certified, as are virtually any other you can find.
Hmm.. Hopefully the photo links are still good, these ARE pictures of your so called "certified" back stab devices.
Photo of outlet link
Contact is 24ga material which is .0239 inch thickness, wire contacts on two sides so the overall wire to outlet contact area is .0478 inchs
Wire in contact photo link
Photo of wire contact link
Compared to a regular screw terminal outlet which the contact area is 5/8" LONG (.0625") and two sides of wire contact is 1.25"..
Photo of regular outlet link
This outlet also can clamp the wires if you don't want to use the screws directly..
Nicked wire photo from Hubbell device
Buy BETTER duplex outlets, they have screw down CLAMPS which are hands down better contact and will not "vibrate loose"..
I should also add, I could not find any UL/CSA marking on the backstab all in one duplex outlet either..
